A South Boston Democrat wants to put money behind a study that could lead to a medical ship in the Harbor to primarily serve Mass and Cass homeless dealing with mental health issues or substance abuse.
A floating hospital designed to serve people living in tents addresses what state Sen. Nick Collins calls a medical facilities shortage in the city. A medical ship could provide patients with a higher level of acute care in a setting completely focused on mental health and substance use, Collins said.
“We need an interim solution to a facilities problem that doesn’t allow for us right now to intervene on demand,” Collins told the Herald. “What do you do? You need to provide the resources that don’t take over hospitals and communities.”
Senators this week approved Collins’ idea as an amendment to their fiscal 2024 budget.
Collins wants to give the Department of Mental Health $50,000 to study the feasibility of converting a decommissioned ship or another water-based vessel into a floating hospital for mental health, substance use treatment, and recovery services.
A report from the department would be due to the House and Senate by Feb. 15, 2024. The idea still needs approval from the House, which will soon start hashing out a final fiscal 2024 budget with the Senate, and ultimately, Gov. Maura Healey.
Researchers at MIT have already studied the possibility of turning a decommissioned cruise ship into affordable housing units. A February 2023 report found converting a cruise ship “is feasible, and offers crucial advantages over comparable land-based approaches.”
“The elimination of new construction, the existing habitable arrangements, and the availability of large-volume spaces for amenities suggest a compelling candidate to creatively address the affordable housing shortage besetting scores of cities and millions of citizens across the country,” the MIT report said before recommending more analysis on the idea.
And Collins’ budget language directs the Department of Mental Health to consult with MIT’s naval construction and marine engineering program to figure out if a floating hospital is possible.
The South Boston Democrat said a Boston-based floating hospital ship is nothing new for the city.
The Floating Hospital for Children — which would later become Tufts Children’s Hospital — was a medical sailing ship in Boston Harbor where children could seek out treatment. A 1920s fire eventually moved facilities onshore.
Collins said the floating hospital “provided an important healthcare response to an untenable situation with an incredibly vulnerable population.”
“And I see this as very similar,” Collins said. “These are the commonwealth’s children. They are someone’s sister. They’re someone’s daughter, someone’s loved one, who are being victimized, particularly at Mass and Cass. And our current public and mental health infrastructure cannot handle the rapid and robust response needed to solve this crisis.”
Rebuilding a treatment center on Boston Harbor’s Long Island and a bridge connecting the island to the mainland has long been seen as another solution to the issues at Mass and Cass. But a battle between Quincy and Boston officials has put a pause on construction efforts.
Mayor Michelle Wu said this month that Boston plans to move forward with rebuilding the bridge to the island, though she acknowledged it carries a “hefty price tag” and any transportation option would take “multiple years” to put in place.
“We are rounding the bend, I think, on the last set of permits for the ability to create that bridge and reactivate transportation to the island,” Wu said on WCVB’s On The Record. “This is a city-owned 250 acres of land that has some buildings which need updating and maintaining because they’ve fallen down a little bit but it has the history of being an important hub for services and treatment.”
Collins said a floating hospital could potentially dock at Long Island.
“While there’s ongoing discussions and debates about the future of Long Island and how to access it,” he said, “this is something that’s climate resilient.”
